…nuscript could stand on its own. (The “Food Lab” update may instead turn into an expanded, 10th anniversary edition, tentatively scheduled for 2025.)

Well, I’ll be buying it…

…isited, and made Kenji two pies. “I told him, ‘This is the best Chicago pizza I have had anywhere, including in Chicago,’” López-Alt recalled. “I still maintain that.” López-Alt went on social media then as he did again this year to coronate Windy City Pie. “I owe a lot of my growth in bus…

Bold! Bold!!!

We had it a couple of times for work, which I hated because it didn’t fit well with the casual happy hour vibe on Fridays – but I’d like to go try it again and see if a sit-down experience does better by it.

Recently, López-Alt started exploring Seattle’s chicken teriyaki scene and found a favorite, Grillbird Teriyaki in West Seattle. One day at lunch, López-Alt laid out trays of chicken teriyaki, fried cauliflower, braised pork and chicken katsu over the hood of his SUV for a photo, an Instagram shot that would be worth gold to the owner of this teriyaki joint when it appeared in a few hours.He held up the deep-fried cauliflower, admiring how the deep-fried shell remained crispy 20 minutes into our interview. The kitchen must use a starch with maybe rice flour to achieve that crunchy coating, he concluded. (It was indeed cornstarch with rice flour, Grillbird confirmed.) In between bites, López-Alt rave…

Don’t mind me, just blasting this to everyone I know in West Seattle…

…Nashville “as one of the best.” He believes the fish and chips at Proper Fish on Bainbridge Island might be the best in the Northwest. “They do it so well. Crunchy, l…

I love, love, love fish and chips. Maybe I should go while the weather is still a little drizzly and bracing – the best fried fish weather.

…t and that’s an important test.” The best bagels here, such as Rachel’s Bagels & Burritos, Rubinstein Bagels and Loxsmith Bagels “are just as good as the best bagels in New York,” he said. And the smoked fish here is top-…

I don’t bother telling this to people from out east because they never believe me, but this is very validating.